Wall rails for fixing of wall panels and for interior fittings

ABSTRACT

A wall rail for fixation of wall panels and interior fittings such as shelves, pendant cupboards, etc. has two essentially parallel shanks situated close together with a flanged section roughly at right angles thereto and projecting only to one side, having fixing holes for attachment of the wall rail to an underlying wall there being arranged between the parallel shanks bracket-carriers at regular short intervals and element-carriers at regular long intervals, the longer interval constituting a whole multiple of the shorter interval.

United States Patent [191 Dahm Jan. 14, 1975 [54] WALL RAILS FOR FIXING0F WALL 2,212,982 8/1940 Drain et al 52/732 PANELS N O INTERIOR FITTINGS2,263,282 11/1941 Welch et al 52/36 [76] Inventor: Per Dahm,Varmlandsgatan 28, FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Goteborg, Sweden991,057 5/1965 Great Britain 248/243 [22] Flled: 1969 PrimaryExaminerErnest R. Purser [21] Appl. No.: 875,399 AssistantExaminer-James L. Ridgill, Jr.

Attorney, Agent, or Firm-lrving M. Weiner [30] Foreign ApplicationPriority Data Nov. 12, 1968 Sweden 15507/68 [57] ABSTRACT A wall railfor fixation of wall panels and interior fit- 52 US. Cl 52/36, 52/378,248/243 tings Such as shelves, Pendant cupboards, has two [51] Int. ClA47b 96/14, A47f 5/08 essentially P Shanks Situated Close together with[58] Field of Search 52/378, 36, 585, 376, 283, a Section roughly atright angles thereto and 5 7 248/243 pro ecting only to one side, havingfixing holes for attachment of the wall rail to an underlying wall there5 References Cited being arranged between the parallel shanks bracket-UNITED STATES PATENTS carriers at regular short intervals andelement-carriers at regular long intervals, the longer intervalconstitutgg ig at ing a whole multiple of the shorter interval.l,954:954 4/1934 Shugart 52/585 2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED JAN1 M975 FIG-7.3

PAIEN EU I 3.859.763

sum 20F INVENTOR.

PATENTEI] JAN 1 4 I975 WEE! 3 OF 3 INVENTOR.

WALL RAILS FOR FIXING OF WALL PANELS AND FOR INTERIOR FITTINGS Theinvention relates to a wall rail for the support and fixing of wallpanels and/r interior fittings such as shelves, pendant cupboards etc.

Wall rails of several types are known for attachment of brackets tointerior fittings. These wall rails are fastened to an underlying wall,with the points of attachment visible, and serve as carriers forbrackets for shelves, pendant cupboards, drawers etc. These wall rails,owing to their comparatively large width, are rather conspicuous and asa rule hardly decorative.

Panels are also known which themselves take over the function of thewall rail and have fastenings for shelf brackets etc. countersunk inthem. These panels, however, are fairly expensive and require to bespecially manufactured or processed for the particular application.

Finally, wall rails are known which both permit suspension of wallelements and serve as carriers for brackets or the like for furnishingsystems, cupboards, shelves and certain other fittings which are usuallyattached to walls.

Said wall panels are used as coverings chiefly for inner walls ofhouses, offices, shops and other buildings.

The present invention relates to the latter category and thus has theobject of permitting fixation of wall elements and/or interior fittingsof the aforesaid kinds. The invention also has the object of producing awall rail which can be easily series-manufactured, is usable asintermediate rail and both as right-hand and lefthand terminal rail, isvisible only to a very small extent, and is easily and simply erected.Among other features are that the wall rail shall be easily adaptable todifferent heights of panel.

This is achieved according to the invention through the fact that thewall rail has two essentially parallel shanks situated close together,with a flange roughly at right angles thereto and preferentiallyprojecting only to one side, that the flange has fixing holes and isintended for attachment to an underlying wall or the like, that in thenarrow space between the parallel shanks are arranged bracket-carriersat regular short intervals and element-carriers at regular longintervals, that the longer interval constitutes a whole multiple of theshorter interval, and that the element-carriers are laterally stifflydisplaceable. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention everyelement-carrier is arranged in and encompassed by a bracket-carrier. Thebracket-carriers of the wall rail have in such case preferably acircular or polygonal outer cross-section.

The invention will now be described with reference to the attacheddrawings.

FIG. 1 shows a wall rail according to the invention, viewed from infront and in a horizontal section,

FIG. 2 a wall rail according to the invention and, beside it, a panelelement for fixing to the wall rail,

FIG. 3 the wall rail and panel element of FIG. 2 joined together,

FIG. 4 a horizontal section, the wall rail being fixed to an underlyingwall, with panel elements inserted be tween some wall rails, and thearrangement of the wall rail at inner corners and outer corners,

FIG. 5 a vertical section from floor to ceiling with shelf brackets,cupboard fittings and ceiling and floor mouldings (intimated) attachedto the wall rail.

The wall rail 1 consists, as appears best from the section in FIG. 1, oftwo essentially parallel shanks situated close together, with a flangedsection roughly at right angles thereto and projecting to one side. Theflanged section has fixing holes 4 and is designed for attachment to anunderlying wall 9 or the like. Between the two parallel shanks of thewall rail, annular bracketcarriers 2 are arranged at regular shortintervals. Element-carriers 3 are also arranged at regular longintervals. In the embodiment shown the element-carriers 3 are arrangedin and encompassed by the bracketcarriers 2. This is made possible bythe fact that the interval between the element-carriers is a wholemultiple of the interval between the bracket-carriers. As appears bestfrom FIG. 4, the element-carriers are arranged laterally stifflydisplaceable in the bracketcarriers. This permits the use of the wallrail according to the invention not only as intermediate rail but alsoas right-hand or left-hand terminal rail.

The wall rail 1 can be easily series-manufactured and cut to standard orspecial lengths. It is designed to be attached to an underlying wall 9with wall screws 7 or bolt gun nails 8 through the fixing holes. 4. Thisfixation is simply effected by, for example, first attaching the wallrail at the top, bottom and centre with the necessary lateral distance,after which the remaining points of attachment can be arranged even bynon-trained personnel without changing the position of the rail.

. As appears from FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, in the vertical edges of the wallelements 12 there are milled. longitudinal slots 5 and a number ofhorizontal slots 6 at centres suited to the distance between theelement-carriers 3 in the wall rail 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the wallelement 12 is raised up between the wall rails 1 so that the horizontalslots 6 come opposite the element-carriers 3, after which the wallelement is inserted between the wall rails and then slightly lowered,whereby the element-carrier 3, after passing through the horizontal slot6, enters the vertical element slot 5. Naturally the attachment of thepanel can also be done by first inserting the wall elements between thewall rails and then raising them up, possibly flush with the ceiling,and then wedging them from below, finally fitting a floor moulding 10.

The slots may also be formed by other means to suit the wall railaccording to the invention. The aforesaid horizontal slots 6, forinstance, may be replaced by slots directed obliquely upwards. These maybe of limited length and either be straight or terminate in a verticalpart of a slot replacing the vertical, longitudinal slot 5. Through thisarrangement of the slots it can be advantageously attained that theelement-carriers, and so the wall rail, hold the panel in position butare relieved of the weight of the panel. The wall rail can therefore becalculated and dimensioned for the load due merely to interior fittingsattached to it, such as shelves, pendant cupboards, etc., without havingto take into account the weight of the panel. The horizontal slots 6 canbe entirely eliminated if the the panel sections can be inserted fromabove between the wall rails accord ing to the invention. In such casesthe panel may also be advantageously veneered with fine wood or the likeon both sides, for example, for detached panels visible from both sides.

FIG. 5 shows how shelf brackets 11, cupboard fittings 13, etc. areinserted between the parallel shanks of the wall rail 1, so thatfixation is effected on the bracketcarriers 2, some of which may encloseelement-carriers 3. At the upper edge of the panel wall in theembodiment shown in this figure a ceiling moulding 14 is arranged, whileat the bottom of the panel wall there is a floor moulding 10. These canbe attached in the conventional way.

As appears from the drawing, a space is formed between the panel andunderlying wall, which permits some ventilation.

This space can also be used for concealment of, for example, electriccables, pipes, telephone cables, wall terminals etc. Very thin panelscan also be used, with edging strips in which there are the necessaryslots 5, 6 etc. Among the advantages of this are that the space will beextra deep and the panel extra light. The construction of the wall railallows in general a great freedom of choice as regards the thickness ofthe panel. One is not bound, for instance, to a single or only a fewspecial panels for the wall rail but, within fairly wide limits, maychoose a thickness of panel greater or less than the depth of the wallrail.

Furthermore the panel always conceals almost the entire wall rail andits fastenings, so that only a very small part of the wall rail, forexample in the form of a strip only a few millimetres wide, is visiblebetween the panel sections. In this strip are inserted shelf bracketsand similar fastenings for interior fittings.

Objects of different kinds can, of course, also be fitted on the actualpanel sections, which is often both easier and simpler to perform on adismantled panel section than on a fixed wall, which may be a valuableadvantage for the erection of, for example, electrical apparatus orobjects and certain wiring, display of sample collections, for whichpurpose the panel sections can be replaced by others witha differentcollection, and so on.

Finally it may be mentioned that the attachment both of panel sectionsand of interior fittings to the wall rails does not require the use ofany tool.

Although the invention has been described with reference to one of itsembodiments, it may be arbitrarily varied within the scope of thesubsequent claims.

Whatl claim is:

1. Wall rail for fixation of wall panels and/or interior fittings suchas shelves, pendant cupboards etc., characterized in that the wall railhas two essentially parallel shanks situated close together with aflanged section roughly at right angles thereto and preferentiallyprojecting only to one side, that the flanged section has fixing holesand is designed for attachment of the wall rail to an underlying wall orthe like, that between the parallel shanks are arranged bracket-carriersat regular short intervals and element-carriers at regular longintervals, that the longer interval consitutes a whole multiple of theshorter interval, and that the elementcarriers are laterally stifflydisplaceable; and wherein every element-carrier is arranged in andencompassed by a bracket-carrier.

2. A wall rail for the supporting and the fixation of wall panels,comprising, in combination:

at least two substantially parallel shanks arranged close together;

said shanks being provided with a plurality of fixing holes for theattachment of said wall rail to an underlying wall;

a plurality of bracket-carriers and a plurality of laterally projectingelement-carriers are arranged at regular intervals between saidsubstantially parallel shanks; and

said laterally projecting element-carriers are constructed to cooperateand mate with slots provided in the edges of said wall panels; andwherein each said element-carrier is arranged in and encompassed by anassociated one of said bracketcarriers.

1. Wall rail for fixation of wall panels and/or interior fittings suchas shelves, pendant cupboards etc., characterized in that the wall railhas two essentially parallel shanks situated close together with aflanged section roughly at right angles thereto and preferentiallyprojecting only to one side, that the flanged section has fixing holesand is designed for attachment of the wall rail to an underlying wall orthe like, that between the parallel shanks are arranged bracket-carriersat regular short intervals and element-carriers at regular longintervals, that the longer interval consitutes a whole multiple of theshorter interval, and that the element-carriers are laterally stifflydisplaceable; and wherein every element-carrier is arranged in andencompassed by a bracket-carrier.
 2. A wall rail for the supporting andthe fixation of wall panels, comprising, in combination: at least twosubstantially parallel shanks arranged close together; said shanks beingprovided with a plurality of fixing holes for the attachment of saidwall rail to an underlying wall; a plurality of bracket-carriers and aplurality of laterally projecting element-carriers are arranged atregular intervals between said substantially parallel shanks; and saidlaterally projecting element-carriers are constructed to cooperate andmate with slots provided in the edges of said wall panels; and whereineach said element-carrier is arranged in and encompassed by anassociated one of said bracket-carriers.